(Topic ID: 299309)

Stern Insider Connected

By anathematize

2 years ago


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Topic index (key posts)

9 key posts have been marked in this topic

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Post #1031 Notes directly from Stern's presentation to Stern Army members. Posted by chuckwurt (2 years ago)

Post #1043 Additional notes from the Stern presentation. Posted by Smack (2 years ago)

Post #2423 Stern Splitter for IC on Batman 66 and other amazingly loaded games! Posted by NeilMcRae (2 years ago)

Post #3320 Methods for leaderboards on location. Posted by davegauth (1 year ago)

Post #4641 Info regarding which chipsets in the dongles are likely to work. Posted by TrixTrix (1 year ago)

Post #4880 Sharing QR readers still works after Apr 20 2023 IC update Posted by ChrisBardon (11 months ago)


Topic indices are generated from key posts and maintained by Pinside Editors. For more information, or to become an editor yourself read this post!

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20
#1 2 years ago

Looks like the internet enabled technology Stern has been dancing around is finally coming out:

Seems like its heavy on the user profile/achievement/stats system that most modern video games utilize.

Edit - More information from George Gomez himself:

------------

Adding jurulz tutorial here for reference for those asking

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-insider-connected/page/36#post-6626480

#12 2 years ago
Quoted from zombieyeti:

FWIW - I was a round one Xbox Live Beta Tester and am a HUGE lifetime gamer in general ...Gamertag YourMom and PSNID YourMom
With that said - I can assure you the platform is much larger than just stat tracking and braggin rights (although that is certainly there!) - GG and team surprised the hell out of me on this.
Super excited for what's in store!

Nice! I was early on in the Xbox Live Beta to due to some good friends that work at our local Microsoft campus.

Gamertage: aeon

I'm glad to hear that it is just more than a glorified achievement system. I'm assuming you've been beta testing this one too? ;~)

#71 2 years ago
Quoted from fooflighter:

Locked to location pins only according to George

Why specifically? Sounds like promotional challenges, achievements etc are all locked to location pins. Aside from score tracking, what else is there for the home collection? I may have missed that in the podcast

Not locked to location according to the podcast. Both home and location have the same achievements, ability for promo challenges, etc. But the achievements will only show the 'verified' badge when they are done on location.

#88 2 years ago
Quoted from ExSquid:

Funny I thought of that as well. Like the game will " know " when the glass is off. Would be a cool thing if they could pull that off.

Somebody would 100% figure out how to 'hack' that in a very short timeframe. I don't think Stern is going to invest any sort of R&D money into an anti-glass-off detection system.

I do think that it would be nice if there was some sort of solution though. It's a bit of a bummer that home users won't be able to get the same kind of achievement 'prestige' as location players.

#100 2 years ago
Quoted from fooflighter:

Hopefully they allow the full arsenal to home users...If that means putting an Asterick by the achievements or challenges, I guess that's a fair compromise. It's definitly a tricky proposal for a machine tied to the virtual world versus a console where everything can be controlled

From what George said on the podcast, that will be the case.

Obviously free game or loyalty type of promos really only make sense in the location pinball world. But i wouldn't doubt that the home user will be able to setup their own promos to reward family/friends that come over to the game room.

#118 2 years ago
Quoted from Hollywoodbone:

I have yet to listen to the podcast or dive real deep into it so I may be speaking a little prematurely but the challenge quest, player loyalty and rewards from location pinball seem to ring very familiar. PINQUEST maybe???? I know the connectivity does a ton more but hate to see a hobbiest put a ton into something and have there idea copied. Again I could completely be wrong so correct me if I am.

There is definitely some overlap in the achievement/quest related functionality but with Stern being the manufacture of the game they are going to have the ability to go so much beyond what a third-party can do and it will all be a part of the game development/code development process from step one.

All of the operator functionality for example could never be implemented by a third-party as easily as Stern can.

Its probably a death knell for Pinquest when it comes to Stern but there are plenty of other games out there that can still benefit from that platform.

#128 2 years ago
Quoted from insight75:

Aside from that there are still a lot of variables from game to game even on location....playfield pitch....outlane settings.....and so many more. Am I crazy? Just trying to understand this.
Edit: This point was raised above...just seeing it....

I mean, I think at a certain point competitive pinball players just need to live with this. It isn't an e-sports competition or even a casual multiplayer game of Counter Strike.

Unless a ton of technology gets added to machines that really isn't relevant to most pinball owners, there will be absolutely nothing that can assure that any two games are setup exactly the same. And even then there are variables that will make them play differently. I don't think anything will ever replace a competition (even for just high scores) that takes place on the same game or bank of games.

#186 2 years ago
Quoted from Elvishasleft:

This is for people competing online etc? I dont really get the appeal of that since every machine is setup and plays differently.
Its not really fair competition unless every player is on the same physical machine.
I setup my games pretty tough so most people that are "good at" those games at their own house wont fare that well at mine.

I think that is why Stern has billed this as more of an 'achievement/challenge/stats' type of system versus a head-to-head matchmaking type of system.

Obviously its not perfect and i think everybody who understands pinball gets that. But its definitely something extra to work towards and breathes some new life into a game weather you are playing at home or on location.

#224 2 years ago
Quoted from Elvishasleft:

Its still the same kind of thing... half of you guys dont even use the tilt bob in your games and play on 5 ball or unlimited ball save.
Im supposed to care that you achieve something on that sort of setup?

I really don't think its intended as some sort of e-peen measuring contest. But, of course, there will be people that use it as such because its the nature of some humans. Those same people can always go to an actual in-person tournament and back up all their digital dong slinging if they feel like proving something.

Frankly I don't think most people care that much about other people's digital achievements or what the state of their machine was when they achieved said achievement. Your mileage may vary.

#235 2 years ago
Quoted from John_I:

Custom firmware is a problem because of unapproved audio and video assets

Is Stern really on the hook for what happens to their computer based machine once it has passed into the hands of the end user?

Genuinely asking because I'm not sure how much liability they would actually have in regards to their licensing contract when it comes to something like that.

#240 2 years ago
Quoted from paul_8788:

If the licensor gets pissed about it because they think Stern did it, or is allowing the user to end run around the license agreement, it could go bad. Not sure what Stern would legally be liable for, but lawsuits aside it would be bad enough for a licensor like Disney to say "screw you" to Stern because of it and just not grant them anymore licenses.

Fair enough. I guess Disney could just work with JJP again but I'm sure they know that means so much less value for their license in the world of pinball.

Granted. Pinball is such a small market I would be surprised if it is even a blip on the Disney radar.

#241 2 years ago
Quoted from Elvishasleft:

Ah.. I think I found a guy with his machines on 5 ball and no tilt bob.
Competitive pinball is an actual thing... and I would assume being "online" that will be a big part of it.
People are comparing it to xbox live etc and thats exactly what that is.. online competitive or co-op play.
Or I guess e-peen measuring as far as you are concerned.

I always have kept any home machines on absolutely brutal settings. And frankly I prefer playing on location in actual live tournaments as opposed to racking up digital achievements on a game at home.

Stern isn't billing it as 'online competitive or co-op play' Just because people are projecting their own digital insecurity and ego stroking on it does not mean that is what Stern is intending it to be. Did you even listen to the hour long podcast with George Gomez?

#246 2 years ago
Quoted from Elvishasleft:

All I was saying if its anything like scorebit then it is about scores and competing... a scoreboard etc.
That is hard to do in pinball since everyones machine plays different
Its not like a video game where everyone plays on the same platform (unless they cheat).
Pinball machines vary wildly in difficulty and setup.

I think you are mistaken in thinking this going to just be a glorified and 'official' version of Scorebit which is - by definition - a score based leaderboard only. And an imperfect one at that.

Stern's system is going to be much more integrated into actual, specific, objective based challenges in the games. Similar to Karl's objectives in the PinClash tournaments.

Your example of video game leaderboards is in bad faith because - regardless of the platform - every single online leaderboard in every video game in history has been rife with cheaters and exploits and is the reason "prove it on LAN or STFU" is a thing in competitive gaming.

Yes. Some people will use it to brag and lord over their friends and random people on the internet. Anybody who does so and the people who get bent out of shape about it clearly don't understand the multitude of variables that go into setting up a pinball machine and the literal impossibility of matching the setup on any two machines.

We all know this. Alert the media. Water is wet.

#344 2 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Sounds like Stern is already planning that based on earlier comments form Zombie Yeti.
In the Georges video he mentioned special aprons needed for Batman66, Elvira, and Star Wars. What's different on those aprons from the standard metal aprons?

The only difference I can see is the aprons of those 3 games have a smooth rounded arc profile as opposed to the the normal stern apron that is more of a hard-edged three sided shape. see attached images:
Batman66Premium-PF-001 (resized).pngBatman66Premium-PF-001 (resized).pngIM-Pro-Detail-14a (resized).pngIM-Pro-Detail-14a (resized).png

#348 2 years ago
Quoted from JStoltz:

Batman 66 has the little trading card mounted in the lower right of the apron, and (I think more importantly) doesn’t have that triangular knockout area that other models use for additional artwork/plastics.[quoted image]

That doesn't hold for Star Wars or Elvira correct? Elvira SE has a card it looks like. But not Star Wars

Elvira-Signature-Playfield_A-aefq32fa (resized).jpgElvira-Signature-Playfield_A-aefq32fa (resized).jpgStern-StarWars-LE-Playfield-smXX-876x1536 (resized).jpgStern-StarWars-LE-Playfield-smXX-876x1536 (resized).jpg
#353 2 years ago
Quoted from JStoltz:

Looks like BM66 and EHOH are different because of the “collector card” being there in place of the pricing card slot. EHOH at least has the right triangular knockout, whereas BM66 deviates in both respects.
I dunno what the problem is with Star Wars… is the hyperspace loop in the way or something? Otherwise it looks fine…
EDIT: Maybe the Luke decal is truly that— a decal. The "suitable" arches appear to have a triangular knockout and a matching triangular plastic that currently fills that void. BM66 and SW are missing that triangular knockout, because they're just decals sitting over the solid metal apron.

Yeah looking close at the SW 'decals' they actually appear to have a small screw in the corner. So they are possibly a printed plastic piece that is screwed into the apron - so no cutout below it that the QR scanner can fit into. I can't confirm in person because our Star Wars LE got sold and replaced with a Comic Pro one.

#630 2 years ago
Quoted from shaub:

This would be cool but a feature like this would have to be locked to a specific operator so you can't get free games on one operator's machine and then spend it on another operator's machine.

For sure. Probably wouldn't be too difficult to implement. Payrange already handles situations like this and keeps all payments & special offers segregated out for specific locations or operators. I'm sure a system like this could work assuming operators registered their games with Stern somehow.

2 years later
#5545 3 months ago
Quoted from jackd104:

The app needs an easily discoverable and dead simple way to view recent achievements in reverse chronological order. It has to be one of the biggest use-cases: “I just played some games, got some achievements, was too busy playing to really see what they were. Now I want to look at the app to see the details.”
It should be under “activity” or adjacent to it as “achievements”.

Agreed. There is a ton of design adjustments that need to be made to the app. Having relevant icons along the bottom and more links across the top of the app is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of terrible design decisions.

The homepage needs a major redesign or give users the ability to customize their interface to show the items that are most relevant to the individual - i.e. I could care less about whatever 'news feed' Stern is trying to push my way. I'd love to remove that from the homepage and replace it with game/achievement related information.

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